-- "Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet Earth, it lies about 13,000 light-years away and can be spotted naked-eye near the Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of several million stars in a volume only about 120 light-years across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to pick out as yellowish stars in this sharp telescopic portrait. Globular cluster 47 Tuc is also home to exotic x-ray binary star systems."

“They may be polar opposites, but something is attracting two species of minke whales, producing at least one hybrid offspring, a new study says.

A cross between an Antarctic minke whale and a northern minke whale was recently discovered during a DNA analysis of whales caught by Norwegian hunters.

Normally the two whale species—both of which can reach 35 feet (11 meters) in length—undertake seasonal migrations that separate them by many miles of ocean.

Northern minkes head toward the North Pole in spring and ply waters up to the edge of Arctic ice during the summer. In autumn these whales head south, nearly as far as the Equator, to spend the winter.

Antarctic whales follow a similar pattern, moving between Antarctic ice and warmer mid-latitudes with the seasons.

But because the two hemispheres' seasons are opposite, the minke species don't share near-equatorial waters at the same time. Thus, they were never thought to meet—until now…”

-- Anatidaephobia — the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

Artist's page below has more photos of this beast.

“UK-based Cella Energy has developed a synthetic fuel that could lead to US$1.50 per gallon gasoline. Apart from promising a future transportation fuel with a stable price regardless of oil prices, the fuel is hydrogen based and produces no carbon emissions when burned. The technology is based on complex hydrides, and has been developed over a four year top secret program at the prestigious Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford. Early indications are that the fuel can be used in existing internal combustion engined vehicles without engine modification.

According to Stephen Voller CEO at Cella Energy, the technology was developed using advanced materials science, taking high energy materials and encapsulating them using a nanostructuring technique called coaxial electrospraying.

“We have developed new micro-beads that can be used in an existing gasoline or petrol vehicle to replace oil-based fuels,” said Voller. “Early indications are that the micro-beads can be used in existing vehicles without engine modification.”

“The materials are hydrogen-based, and so when used produce no carbon emissions at the point of use, in a similar way to electric vehicles”, said Voller.

The technology has been developed over a four-year top secret programme at the prestigious Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, UK.

The development team is led by Professor Stephen Bennington in collaboration with scientists from University College London and Oxford University.

Professor Bennington, Chief Scientific Officer at Cella Energy said, “our technology is based on materials called complex hydrides that contain hydrogen. When encapsulated using our unique patented process, they are safer to handle than regular gasoline.””

-- Finally an alternative fuel I can really get on board with!!! haha

"A city twice the size of Wales and 26 times the size of London. In China it's not just possible, it's being planned.

It would be a city bigger than Wales, but it’s perfectly in line with China’s building mantra: go big or go home.

Planners are proposing to merge nine cities around the Pearl River Delta in southern China, from Guangzhou to Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, reports The Telegraph.

Called the "Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One" plan, the proposal will create a 16,000 square mile area “that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales,” according to the paper.

China is creating its first mega city, which will challenge the dominance of China’s current main urban areas of Beijing/Tianjin and Shanghai.

The goal of the new city will be to integrate China’s manufacturing base, which will include the cities of Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing.

Together, according to the Telegraph, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy.

The new zone will be created over the next six years, and will connect the current cities’ transport, energy, water and telecommunications networks.

The area will also have an express rail line to Hong Kong.

If you’re having a difficult time imagining this, think of it as China’s version of Tokyo.

"The idea is that when the cities are integrated, the residents can travel around freely and use the health care and other facilities in the different areas," said Ma Xiangming, the chief planner at the Guangdong Rural and Urban Planning Institute and a senior consultant on the project.

This is not the only massive urbanization plan going on in the country. By 2025 China will have 221 mega cities with more than 1 million residents, and eight cities each with a population of more than 10 million.”

“A Minneapolis woman has been cited for animal cruelty after postal workers say they discovered a puppy in a box she was mailing to Georgia.

Police say the box was taped shut and had no air holes. And, had it been sent for delivery, the box would have been put in an airplane's unheated and non-pressurized cargo hold. Sgt. William Palmer says the Postal Service told police the dog would have died.

Postal Service spokesman Pete Nowacki says post office employees became suspicious when the box fell off the counter after the woman left last Tuesday. Postal inspectors were summoned, the box was opened and the 4-month-old poodle mix was found inside, panting hard, but unharmed.

Nowacki said it was the first time he heard of something like this in his 25 years on the job.

"I'm dumbfounded," said Nowacki. " I can't see a way you look at this and think it's a good idea."

-- Sara Bareilles talking about her cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” and performing a live concert version of her single “King of Anything”.

-- This document is an Arabic manual for Egyptian protesters circulated via email and in hard copy prior to the protests on Friday January 28, 2010. For background on the document and English translations of selected portions, see The Atlantic’s article Egyptian Activists’ Action Plan: Translated. via Public Intelligence.

“The people of Cairo are now waiting to learn the toll from the battle of Tahrir Square on Wednesday. The clashes, which broke out barely an hour after the government allowed Internet connections to resume, have added a new twist to the drama that has gripped the Arab world's largest country: Has the army been on the side of the government after all?

Since military tanks moved in across Egypt on Jan. 28, the army has largely held the support of the anti-government demonstrators and the city's residents. "The whole military is supporting the revolution," said Taher Mohamed, a lawyer, as he headed into Tuesday's so-called march of millions. The sentiment was widespread: the army is neutral; it represents the people; it has refused to fire on demonstrators. Protesters hoping to see President Hosni Mubarak fall paused to shake hands with soldiers or cheer them from the tops of tanks. (See TIME's exclusive pictures of the turmoil in Egypt.)

But on Wednesday, busloads of Mubarak supporters armed with sticks and machetes as well as a small army of men on horseback were able to get through Cairo's many military and civilian checkpoints, advancing into Tahrir Square seemingly without hindrance from the military. All of this occurred on a day when pedestrians and drivers had to weave their way through practically impenetrable army roadblocks all around downtown Cairo…”

-- That's what I've been afraid of since their apparent declaration of neutrality. There's too many unknowns. Hopefully this revolution does not turn in to a civil war.

dmanlt.com

Search

About

dmanlt.com has been online since 7.9.2010. It is a website about photography, science, art, technology, nature, culture, current events and everything in between and beyond. It is written and regularly updated by Donatas Urbonas.